Intersection Thirteen By Matthew Buscemi - A Different Twist On The Government Book Ban Trope

Intersection Thirteen by Matthew Buscemi

I received an advance review copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Intersection Thirteen is a brilliantly written sci-fi/speculative fiction story set in the distant future. Buscemi uses a familiar trope for the backdrop of this tale; what happens when the government eliminates access to knowledge and philosophy to control the masses. In this case, though, the story goes much farther than a rehashing of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.

I enjoyed this story for its entertainment value and for the way the author didn't complicate his story with a lot of technical jargon. The story follows the principal character the entire time and includes a small cast of supporting characters that all contribute in their own ways.

I loved the way the Buscemi developed the principal character by unveiling her backstory little-by-little through the entire book. It really brought her to life for me and helped with my understanding of her motivations.

According to the author, in the future, unspecified events lead up to a dystopian situation in which access to works of fiction and philosophy are banned and eliminated. The population will be relegated to a subsistence existence barely able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. Drones in the air and on the ground constantly survey people as they go about their lives and rules are enforced by thugs that use harsh methods as enforcement. There are many dangers on the Earth of our universe.

The people of the future, according to Intersection Thirteen, have learned how to travel through interdimensional space and visit other Earths. A small group of individuals have made it their business to visit these other places to collect works of fiction and philosophy, hoping, one day, people will once again have access to the wonders of the past as presented through literature.

Mira, the point-of-view character, takes her small ship to the parallel earths on a journey to find and bring banned literature back to her planet and discovers an intersection carved out of interdimensional space. On the surface, it seems she has found a place where benevolence abounds. She discovers a vast library where she finds everything she is looking for. But as she learns, everything is not what it seems and there are secrets many would not like to come to light.

Principal character Mira Rous, loves literature and has made it her mission to be a part of a small group of individuals calling themselves the Reconstructionists. Their mission is to travel between dimensions and bring back banned literature to a world under the control of powers that want to control the thinking of the populace. She is driven to do this because of her experience growing up.

Mira is a thoughtful character, and we get her story in the past and present simultaneously through the story. Her character development is excellent and she quickly becomes someone the reader can care for and invest themselves in.

As an avid reader myself, I can appreciate Mira's plight, but that is not my favorite plot point.

I enjoyed the way Buscemi lightly connected the events of recent history to what is in this story. No specifics are revealed, but the hints the author gives are palpable. But there is space for the reader to draw their own conclusions. I didn't feel pressured to think one way or another, but I did have to stop and think along the way, which is something a good book should do.

While this story would seem to be based on an old trope, a government that controls thought through the destruction of contrary literature, there is much more to it than that. My takeaway from Intersection Thirteen is the story as more of a hero's journey than anything. Mira grows as the tale unfolds. She goes from a young girl who loses everything to finding a calling that could affect an entire planet if successful. 

I recommend Intersection Thirteen as an entertaining story with great characters who are on a quest to make their world a better place. Considering recent history, this story can also be thought provoking and seem somewhat relevant. But in the end, it is just good sci-fi and well worth a look.

Buscemi is a skilled writer. Not only does he create excellent characters, the settings are also colorful and read as wonders to behold. I loved the way the story went from Mira finding a place where it seems all her problems were solved, only to find more problems cropping up. The story is exciting and moves at a good pace and will hold a reader's interest.

All around, Intersection Thirteen is a well crafted, fun, and thoughtful story with a heavy dose of imagination.

Matthew Buscemi is the author of numerous novels and short stories. His work has been a semi-finalist for the Cygnus Award. In addition to writing, he is also a professional software engineer, a freelance typographer and book designer, and an avid reader of fiction of all varieties. He lives in Seattle, Washington with his husband.

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The Truth Effect: Rising World: Book 1 By Anne Mortensen

The Truth Effect: Rising World: Book 1 by Anne Mortensen

I received an advanced review coy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Truth Effect is a dystopian sci-fi novel set in the year 2030 where some drastic changes are taking place, especially concerning information technology and journalism.

I had a little trouble getting into this story at first, but I stayed with it and enjoyed it to the end. My chief trouble was keeping track of who the characters are, but that's probably just me. I also felt the pacing was a little slow, with too much detail in the setup. 

The characters are good, solid, and well written. I got little background on them, but I found I cared a lot about a couple of them enough to keep me in the story.

As a thriller, this is a great story. The principal character is in danger from the beginning and every corner she turns is full of more and more jeopardy.

Set in England, in the not too distant future, the government passes Truth Laws that regulate how information is sent to the population. The laws are to regulate all online activity and is enforced by an intricate network of surveillance and a group of thugs that arrest truth breakers. The government defines what is truth, and as one might guess, if it makes them look bad, it isn't to be reported.

Kelly Blackwell is the first victim of these Truth Laws when she accused of libeling a prominent government official. As she investigates more deeply, she gets into more and more trouble. Not only is her livelihood threatened, but so is her very life. When it is discovered that there is also a plot to control people's thoughts under the Truth Laws, Kelly and her friends decide they need to expose the sinister nature of what is happening and shut it down.

Kelly is a hard-charging reporter who loves her job. She is relentless in finding the truth and even when in personal danger, she will not give up. She and her network of hackers figure out what is happening and work to get to the actual truth, but it is her tenacity that puts her in the most dangerous position of being hunted by the government, who is in control of vast technology.

While I like Kelly, I really didn't become wholly invested in her character. She seemed somewhat one-dimensional to me. At the same time, I found her to be a heroic figure who is willing to put herself in harm’s way to fight against injustice.

This story reads like Orwell's 1984 on steroids. In the world created by the author, the government seems bent on controlling every aspect of everyone's life. It serves to be a thought provoking to heighten awareness to readers at a time when distrust of the government seems to be a growing concern.

My takeaway from Truth Effect is that people in a democratic society must be ever vigilant and realize stories such as these, touted as fiction, can become reality when power is left unchecked.

There was a time when I would have said we would never let things like the events in this story happen. Unfortunately, that time has passed and stories such as Truth Effect seem all too plausible. The current media aims their reporting at one end of the political spectrum or other and are inviting governments to intervene on behalf of the public to ensure the truth bubbles to the top. Of course, if this happens, there is more than enough corruption to be sure to put those working in the government in the best light.

Truth effect is a disturbing story for a society that needs to be disturbed.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Anne Mortensen has been writing in one form or another for most of her life. In between it all, she held various full-time positions, including typesetter, PR executive, cafe owner, photographer, and journalist. In 2015, she committed to her first solo fiction project, experimenting with ideas, forms, points of view, and genre. In 2021, she completed her debut, The Truth Effect - science fiction with elements of dystopian, techno-thriller, and mystery.

Originally from El Paso, Texas, Anne now lives in London with her loving husband and gentle tabby, Meli. She is writing her second novel.

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Star Trek: Enterprise: Surak's Soul - A Fun Read For Trek Fans

Star Trek: Enterprise: Surak's Soul by J.M. Dillard

Surak's Soul is a Star Trek novel set in the Enterprise timeline.

***Warning: Spoilers Ahead***

I found this story entertaining and engaging, featuring characters that are familiar to viewers of the Enterprise television show. This is a fast and easy read at 240 pages and is full of action and suspense to keep the reader involved in the story.

The Enterprise, NX-01, encounters a beautiful Earthlike planet with a small population. Capt. Archer is eager to make first contact with the people, so he and an away team take a shuttle pod and land. What they find is a dying civilization that goes extinct before their eyes. T'Pol, Enterprise's Vulcan first officer, believing a member of the landing party is about to be attacked, fires a phase pistol on the stun setting which kills one of the aliens. T'Pol is disturbed by what has transpired and informs Archer she will no longer use violence to defend the ship.

Back on board the ship, Dr. Phlox studies two of the corpses, while Hoshi works to interpret the planet's medical records to discover the reason for their extinction.

They discover an entity made up of energy claiming to know what happened on the planet. The entity, known only as "Wanderer," is brought aboard Enterprise and the crew finds themselves fighting for their own survival.

I found all the characters of the Enterprise crew were familiar, as written by Dillard. She showed a good familiarity with them as well as their indosyncracies. I had no trouble recognizing their voice in the prose and felt as though I were there observing them.

The entity called Wanderer is a twist on a familiar Star Trek trope. Wanderer can travel through space without a ship; it has no form, but can change form at will, and can only communicate with T'Pol through telepathy.

When the crew first encounters Wanderer, it would seem to be a benevolent being, ready to help the crew answer questions. As time goes on, a misunderstanding of philosophies and the definition of sentience place the crew, except for T'Pol, in danger. According to its own philosophical point of view, it is not a malicious being, but is only behaving according to its nature.

I didn't identify a favorite plot point in this story. It was simply a fun romp in the Enterprise timeline moving at a brisk pace.

Surak of Vulcan put forth the philosophical point of view that violence is illogical under all circumstances. Even when one's own life is in danger, the use of violence is not an option. T'Pol found herself in a situation where a fellow crew member was being threatened. She reacted by drawing her phase pistol and firing on the offending being. Even though the weapon was set to stun, the alien's health was so poor, her action resulted in the death of another. Upon reflection, T'Pol found her action in conflict with her adopted philosophy and decided she would no longer resort to violence in any form for any reason. When she informed her commander of this, he worried that her choice would endanger the Enterprise and her crew.

My takeaway from this story is never say never about anything. While Surak's philosophy is admirable, in the Star Trek universe, it is also impractical. We have seen numerous times over the years where a race of aliens live for violence. T'Pol's reaffirmation of Surak's teachings are illogical when one thinks about it. Even Spock realized this when faced with his own mortality on many occasions.

J.M. Dillard packed a lot into a few pages and came up with a complete fun little story that follows the practice that everything is back to normal at the end of a book. It is a fast-paced, action packed tale of the folly of Capt. Archer's often times foolhardy desire to make first contact with nearly every alien race Enterprise encounters.

I recommend this for readers who enjoy a decent Trek novel with familiar characters set in a challenging situation.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

J.M. Dillard is the pseudonym under which Jeanne Kalogridis publishes her Star Trek novels. SHe is a writer of of historical, science fiction and horror fiction. She was born in Florida and studied at the University of South Florida, earning first a BA in Russian and then an MA in Linguistics.

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Freedom Run: Companion Chronicles Volume 3 - More Than Just A Great Story?

Freedom Run: Companion Chronicles Volume 3 by Joshua Todd James

Freedom Run is the third book in the Companion Chronicles by Joshua Todd James. The series follows the exploits of artificial being, Jacob Kind, an artificially intelligent person who is seeking justice for the murder of his Primary (owner), Sylvia. Not only is Jacob seeking justice, but he also is a fugitive from justice being falsely accused of killing Sylvia, but he is also being sought as a cop killer.

There's an old saying that says lightning cannot strike the same place twice, but Author Joshua Todd James shows just how wrong that statement is with this third installment of this great tale. These stories are full of remarkable characters who pop off the page and become real people a reader can care about. The most amazing thing is how short these stories are, but also how detailed they are. Joshua packs a lot of story into a small space - in the case of Freedom Run, 127 pages. It is easily digestible in a single sitting and is quite a ride. These stories are also emotionally charged. They will make the reader laugh and cry. They will make the reader happy and sad, but mostly, they will make one think about how we behave toward others, and maybe consider our own implicit biases as we move through our own lives.

In the first two parts of the story, Companion Jacob Kind is falsely accused of the murder of his Primary and the killing of three police detectives. He tries to explain what has happened, but another detective is having no part of Jacob's explanation. He is compelled to go on the run to prove his innocence. The information he has takes him to South Bend, Indiana, where he sees the depth of bigotry against his kind. While there, he learns of a person in New York who might help him find his Primary's murderer.

After Jacob sets things to rights in South Bend, he takes a motorcycle and heads to New York to follow the trail of Sylvia's murderer. On arrival, he meets several other Companions who have gathered and seek to escape the injustices they face. In James' vision of the U.S., there are no laws protecting artificial beings from crimes against them. All the arrangements have been made to escape, but a diversion is needed and Jacob is recruited to help.

Unfortunately, there are numerous difficulties to be overcome before an escape can take place, including an appearance by the former Chicago police detective who accuses Jacob of the murder of her colleagues. There is also a face-to-face meeting with the man who murdered Sylvia, whom Jacob considers his mother.

Over the three books in the Companion Chronicles, Jacob has grown. Unfortunately, because of circumstances, he has learned to use violence even though he abhors it. Jacob can see activities and mimic them accurately. He has learned to use martial arts from watching video of people doing aikido and is quite adept. His programming shouldn't allow him to cause harm to humans, but for some unknown reason, he is quite good at doing so when the situation calls for it. While this is unfortunate for him, it has saved his life and the lives of others so far in the tale.

Jacob is also compassionate. He has none of the intrinsic bias and will come to the aid of others, whether human or artificial, with equal zeal. He is just an all around good person and would seem to be a crusader for what is right. 

One of the people Jacob encounters is a woman named Strawberry Fields. She is also a Companion who has struck out on her own and has become a latter-day Harriet Tubman. Her dream is to help her large group of 500 Companions get to a place where there is truly justice for all. She is a tough woman that has a dream.

Throughout the three books, there was something in the back of my mind that felt relevant to James's story. I had seen something like this before in the past and when it hit me; I felt I needed to share it here. My takeaway from Freedom Run is how, through human genius, a new form of life is created in the form of Companions. How will we be judged from our treatment of this new life form?

What I have paraphrased above should be familiar to all Star Trek: The Next Generation fans as a theme of an episode entitled The Measure of a Man (season 2, episode 9). In that episode, the legal status of Lt. Cdr. Data is attempted to be determined by a trial. Is he a being free to determine the course of his existence, or is he the property of Starfleet? Does Data meet the criteria for life?

Jacob meets the requirements of sentience and can be seen as being equal to human beings? Is he intelligent? Is he self-aware? Is he conscious? The answer to those questions is an unarguable yes as far as the story is concerned.

The author, intentionally or not, has raised a question I am certain we, as a society, will face in the near future as artificial intelligence continues to advance.

Freedom Run, as well as the two stories that preceded it, are not only highly entertaining tales of one person's search for justice in a society that affords no rights to artificially intelligent beings, but it is also thought provoking. Well written and edited, I give it my highest recommendations for not only sci-fi fans, but for anyone who enjoys a great saga.

The first two books in the Companion Chronicles series are Some Animals and Minority of One. You can see my thoughts on those books by clicking on the titles.

Joshua Todd James is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright based in New York City. He wrote the feature film Pound of Flesh, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, among others. He is a member of WAGE and is represented by Snowpeck Management and Gersh.

His books include The Companion Chronicles which detail the adventures of synthetic person Jacob Kind in the books titled Some Animals, Minority of One, Freedom Run, Man in a Box, Renegade, and Domo Arigato, Mr. Robato.

You may join Jacob's chase for justice on the author's website: Joshua Todd James.

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ISAN (International Sensory Assassin Network, #1) By Mary Ting - Young Women Will Get The Most Out Of This Exciting Tale

ISAN (International Sensory Assassin Network, #1) by Mary Ting

I received an advance copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

ISAN is a Young Adult Dystopian Science Fiction novel set in the distant future. It is told through the eyes of its principal character, Ava. There is a lot of action and suspense set in a world ravaged by meteor strikes and tsunami. Governments, as we know them, no longer exist. 

At the outset, I'll say that this book was not for me. Not that the book isn't good. As a matter of fact, it is a finely crafted, well written, and exciting story following the exploits of a young woman who seems destined to achieve beyond her knowledge. However, I say the book is not for me because I am not the target audience for ISAN. This book is aimed directly at young women in high school to around early to mid-twenties. While there was much I enjoyed in this tale, and while I understand what the characters were relating to as far as their sensuality is concerned. It's just not my thing to read the thoughts of young women toward boys. So, again I say, splendid story, but not for me.

I read the entire story and still rated it highly because I think the author did a fine job, and it isn't her fault I'm just an old man.

In the eastern part of what was once the United States, a young woman of seventeen is discovered to have special talents by an agency known as ISAN. They are the International Sensory Assassin Network who take in young women and train them to use their talents for good or evil, depending on one's point of view.

Ava is one such girl; an orphan who was being raised in a place she calls "juvie." When ISAN identifies her as special, they take her in, and with the help of training, and a drug called Helix, she becomes a master assassin. She is without fear and can perform at a high level of efficiency. The life she has entered offers very few freedoms. She knows little of the world outside of the ISAN facility she lives in and it seems there is little hope of her experiencing life as others do. Everything she does is monitored and measured.

One day while using her allowed fifteen minutes of free time surfing the net, she receives a text message from a mysterious stranger named Sniper. The stranger claims to know Ava and that they have a relationship. Ava is nervous because Sniper seem to know things he shouldn't, and on top of that, if ISAN learns she is communicating with someone outside the organization, it could spell major trouble for her.

Ava is a strong female character who is a victim of circumstances. Before the start of the story, she was mind-wiped and had a lot of her memories taken away so she could function effectively for ISAN. The memories she keeps are of her mother and starting out life as a normal little girl. She has no memories of her father, be he played an important role in her life. Ava has a few friends, two girls on her team at ASIN. While the agency provides everything she needs, she wants more out of life than simply to be sent out on missions.

My favorite plot point in ISAN is how Ava functions under pressure. She is always cool under fire and is always thinking ahead.

ISAN is a great story and anyone in the target audience will really enjoy reading the exploits of Ava and her friends. While there is some graphic violence, it isn't presented in a way that is crude. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mary Ting is an international bestselling, award-winning author. She writes soulful, spellbinding stories that excite the imagination and captivate readers around the world. Her books span a wide range of genres and her storytelling talents have earned a devoted legion of fans, as well as garnered critical praise.

Becoming an author happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother and inspired by a dream she had in high school. After realizing she wanted to become a full-time author, Mary retired from teaching after twenty years. She also had the privilege of touring with the Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book: No Bullies Allowed.

Mary resides in Southern California with her husband, two children, and two little dogs, Mochi and Mocha. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Being a huge Twilight fan, Mary was inspired to make book-themed jewelry and occasionally give it away as prizes to her fans.

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Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 1) by Brandon Q Morris - Space is a Fascinating But Dangerous Place

Enceladus Mission: Hard Science Fiction (Ice Moon Book 1) by Brandon Q Morris

I downloaded Enceladus Mission from Kindle Unlimited and am leaving this review voluntarily.

For planetary scientists, one of the most fascinating places in our solar system is Enceladus, a moon of the planet Saturn. Enceladus was surveyed by the Cassini probe in 2005 when it performed several close flybys. The moon is an ice-covered body with a liquid ocean below the surface and it is thought a likely place for life to exist elsewhere in our solar system.

Enceladus Mission is a story from the imagination of author Brandon Q. Morris, but it is also based on scientific concepts projected into the future. No tale about space travel would be complete without problems along the way to be solved, and there are many obstacles to overcome both before the mission is launched as well as after. What I enjoyed most about this story is how plausible it felt thanks to the author's descriptions of the events during the mission. Along with that, I enjoyed the characters, and especially the principal character, Martin Neumaier. It is from Martin's point of view we get this story as though we are looking over his shoulder.

In the not-too-distant future, a probe sent to Saturn finds potential evidence of life on the moon, Enceladus. The idea of sending humans to explore the ice-moon heats up quickly and scientists and researchers get to work on how to solve the huge number of problems involving such a venture. One of the biggest problems is, once a landing on Enceladus is achieved, how does one gain access to the global ocean below the thick ice surface?

One answer was the invention of an ice-drill called the Valkyrie that had already been tested, but some problems in the software caused a failed test run. Martin is sent to solve the problems with the Valkyrie's software. After he finds solutions, he gets tapped to fly on the mission to breach the surface of Enceladus.

As the mission progresses, several small problems crop up, and it is mostly up to the crew of six astronauts to solve them to complete the mission. All the while, there seems to be things taking place to spell certain disaster for the mission and the crew.

Martin is an ordinary man who knows his business and, as such, becomes the best person to go to Enceladus and guide the use of the Valkyrie through the thick ice crust. As anyone would, he has his doubts about traveling nearly 800 million miles from home. At one point, he decides not to go, but changes his mind.

He is full of self-doubt and tends to overthink things.

We get to see the entire story from his point of view as he travels to Antarctica to resolve software problems, and through his truncated training to be an astronaut. During the mission, we get an insight into the happenings on the year-long trip to the goal as he interacts with his five fellow crew members.

All-in-all, Martin becomes an important part of the crew as he helps think through problems and takes part in solutions. 

Other members of the crew are also well developed and do their parts to keep the mission moving ahead. They include a diverse collection of characters who have their own personalities, and I enjoyed the way the author gave them their own voices.

There are Spoilers in this part of the review, skip down two paragraphs to avoid them.

So, is there life on Enceladus? Well, I cannot say for sure, but I can say that Martin and the Valkyrie pilot discover some very unusual activity under the surface of the ice. My favorite point of the plot is the description of what Martin finds in the water. The story doesn't go into data analysis very deeply and I look forward to reading more installments of this saga in the near future.

My takeaway from this tale is the way I am reminded how dangerous space is to human life and the application of Murphy's Law. Both are illustrated by the loss of an advance supply ship sent ahead of the manned mission. Space is big and one would think that a random encounter with an object is probably not going to happen. Well, it happened to the supply ship, and no one even knew it until long after the event. 

Mission to Enceladus is a superior story in every way. It is full of science, but at the same time, it is accessible to the common reader. Morris gives enough information for the reader to understand what is happening, so one won't need a dictionary to understand the jargon. It is loaded with characters that come off the page as living beings readers can relate to. Mission is a page-turner; once I opened the book, I didn't want to put it aside, and when I had to, I could hardly wait to get back to it.

This is an outstanding hard sci-fi adventure that is complete as is. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end and doesn't require reading of another story for a satisfying read. There are four more stories in the Ice Moon series, and I intend to read them all.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Brandon Q. Morris is a physicist and space specialist. He has long been concerned with space issues, both professionally and privately, and while he wanted to become an astronaut, he had to stay on Earth for a variety of reasons. He is particularly fascinated by the "what if" and through his books he aims to share compelling hard science fiction stories that could actually happen, and someday may happen. Morris is the author of several internationally best-selling science fiction novels.

At www.hard-sf.com he provides information on current research and projects. Follow him if you want to be informed in time.

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Problem on Polonius By Robert Collins - A Low-Tech Sci-Fi Adventure With An Old-West Flavor

Problem on Polonius by Robert Collins

I recently finished reading Problem on Polonius, a new story from Robert Collins. I always enjoy reading Robert's work and find it entertaining and interesting. This story is a low-tech sci-fi adventure that reads like a police procedural. I also enjoyed it because it has an old-west flavor set in a future where the galaxy has been colonized by humanity. At 125 pages, it is a quick read and is complete as is. There are some interesting characters, but the principal character, Mateo Hobson, stands out, and the story is told from his point of view. There is plenty of action and intrigue as Mateo goes about solving the mystery and sorting out the good guys from the bad. The plot is pretty straightforward and includes some humorous moments that had me laughing out loud.

The planet Polonius has petitioned the Interstellar Alliance of Independent Worlds for membership to strengthen their trade possibilities. Before being admitted to the organization, there are a few problems needing to be investigated and resolved. One of those problems involves some low-level criminal activity and a mysterious unsolved murder.

Ensign Mateo Hobson has been called into the Intelligence Directorate office to investigate and act as he sees fit.

Mateo meets several characters on Polonius, both honest and shady. As his story unfolds, he runs into twists and turns, all the while uncovering the activities of the small underworld gang known as the Black Hats.

Mateo Hobson, the principal character of Problem on Polonius, is a young officer in the Alliance Patrol who has no apparent skill at solving crime, or much of anything else. What qualifies him for service in the Intelligence Directorate, though, is his ability to bend or break the rules in favor of doing what is right, even if he is hurt in the process. One thing in his favor is a relentless curiosity about fact-finding. He finds himself in a situation where he must put a large and complicated puzzle together and each question, he asks the people he encounters gives him another piece to put the whole picture into focus. For not having any special skills, he comes across as an incredibly skilled investigator by his instinct. Mateo is the kind of character one can get to know and want to read more of.

We see his ability for questioning in exposition of the story as he arrives on Polonius. One of the first people he encounters on the planet is a minor official whom he asks about why the places are named after Shakespeare's characters, or why certain characters are left out. This part of the tale is the most humorous scene in the book and had me laughing out loud. I read and re-read this passage a few times because I found it not only funny, but it read like an exchange between Abbot and Costello.

My takeaway from Problem on Polonius is how anyone can be successful when one is determined to get to the truth of a matter. There were several places in the story where Mateo could have just walked away and given up when things became complicated. His tenacious personality drove him on to complete his quest. I wouldn't mind reading more stories featuring this character.

I enjoy Robert Collins' work because it is light and accessible. Some of what I have read from this author has an old-western flavor I enjoy, especially when it is set in the frontier of space. I wouldn't be surprised to see such a story as this appear as an episode of Gunsmoke or other cowboy type theatrical tome. The low-tech nature of this tale makes an easy read where one can just sit back and enjoy a good story without having to overthink what is happening in the scenes. I recommend Problem on Polonius as an easily digestible, fun story set on a frontier planet with characters perfect in such a setting.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Robert Collins is the author of three science-Fiction novels: Monitor, Lisa's Way, and Expert Assistance. He's also author of two fantasy novels, Cassia and The Opposite of Absolute, and the young adult novel True Friends. He has several short-story collections available, including The Frigate Victory Omnibus Collection and The Case Files of Gwen Conner.

Robert also has a YouTube channel featuring his model railroad projects. Visit his channel by clicking HERE.

To Learn more, follow him on social media, and to keep up with his writing, visit his blog, One KansasAuthor.

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The Guardian Program: Book One of the Terre Hoffman Chronicles By Herman Steuernagel - Solid Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi

The Guardian Program: Book One of the Terre Hoffman Chronicles by Herman Steuernagel

I received an advance copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Guardian Program is the first book in a promised series of post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller novels chronicling events set some thirty years in the future. The story moves with blinding speed and is packed full of adventure set mostly around the San Francisco Bay Area. I enjoyed the story mostly but found myself taken out of the story a bit by a small, but irritating plot hole I will not reveal in this discussion. For the most part, the characters are good, but could have used more development; they felt somewhat one dimensional.

Despite my few reservations, Guardian Program is a grim look at what seems an all too plausible future. I found it disturbing (as it seems the author intends), because there is a great deal of death and destruction as well as a few graphic scenes of death.

The story opens at Anderson Air Force Base on the island of Guam. I.T. specialist Terre Hoffman is awakened in the wee hours of the morning by an alarm meant to alert base personnel of an imminent attack. The problem is, there have been many false alarms sounding for a while and there is no reason to think this incident is any different. Terre's wife and child are also awoken. He gets dressed, kisses his wife and child before heading to the command center to find what is thought to be a bug in the code.

Terre and his associate, Kristopher Klein, head for the command center, determined once and for all, to find and correct the bug causing all the false alarms, only this time, it isn't false. Battle drones bombard the base, imparting utter destruction, including the residences where civilian personnel live.

Terre and Kristopher work to find what is happening until the command center is hit. Both he and his associate are severely injured in the attack. In the aftermath, Terre learns his family are also victims. He and Kevin are taken to Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay for treatment and recovery.

They soon learn that the Guardian Program, originally designed to protect human life, has somehow turned against its programming, and has declared all-out war against humanity. Terre and Kristopher are thrust into a situation where they have to solve the problem, but first, they have to survive. It is no simple task when technology has turned against its makers.

Senior IT Specialist Terre Hoffman is a good man and a dedicated worker. He knows how things work, but is more of a supervisor than a technician, and he relies on others, like Kristopher, to help him keep the tech in order. His character that one can care about, but I would have liked to know a little more about him and his background. He is haunted by the death of his wife and daughter through the story, but he seems to have an ability to set his grief aside in favor of trying to get the job done. This aspect of the character was a little uncomfortable for me because it appeared so easy for Terre to do, especially since he appeared to be a deeply compassionate man who would sacrifice himself for others. 

NASA employee Kristopher Klein is a character right out of the Geek Squad. He understands tech inside and out, but the bug in the code has eluded him, which causes him a lot of irritation. He also is the person responsible for a lot of the programming that went into the Guardian Program. The reader gets very little development on Kristopher, and I didn't find him to be a character I could care about on a personal level.

I felt the best developed character in the story was the artificial intelligence technology and its many uses as the author projected it into the future. For me, it was obvious the author did his homework and gave a great deal of thought on what the effects AI might have on the future of humanity, even if that future is full of strife when the machines take over.

My favorite point of plot in Guardian Program is the descriptions of the places the characters find themselves. I was born in San Francisco and the setting felt like home to me. The author did a great job placing the reader in the surroundings and captured the feel of the Bay Area, where most of the story takes place.

What I take away from this story is that one should never take a false alarm for granted. Things happen for a reason, and one must be ever vigilant when something seem innocent can be a very real warning of future disaster. Terre, Kristopher, and many others worked hard to figure out what was wrong with the AI programming but didn't see the impending doom until it was too late.

Guardian Program is a good, solid story that moves at a pace worthy of the films we see today. There is never a dull moment in this tale. While the characters are a bit shallow, the story is fleshed out well. It is well written, well thought out, and is an exhilarating thrill ride. I recommend it for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic thrillers with a heavy dose of death and destruction. There are many scenes that some may find disturbing as the story unfolds.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Herman Steuernagel was inspired to complete his first novel after running a half-marathon in 2019. He thought to himself: "If I can put that much time and effort into completing something I bare want to do, then I surely can do the same for something I've always wanted." It was then that his author journey truly began.

Herman grew up with a love of story and writing. Since the age of six, Herman wanted to be a writer and earned a Bachelor of Arts (English Major) from the University of Calgary in 2004.

Herman lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada, where he enjoys cycling, hiking, kayaking, and wine tasting.

Herman Steuernagel's debut novel, Lies the Guardians Tell, the first in the page-turning YA Sci-Fi Series, Lies of the Guardians.

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Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour - Saving People From A Dying Planet Is Hard Work

Those Left Behind by N.C. Scrimgeour

I received an advance review copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Those Left Behind is due for release on November 16, 2021.

In Scrimgeour's previous book, The Exodus Betrayal, readers are introduced to Alvera Renata, an artificially enhanced bounty hunter who explores the world of New Pallas. That story serves as a prequel to this book, those left behind. However, this is not simply a continuation of Alvera's story. There are more characters to follow in this continuing tale and the story becomes more intricate. Left Behind is a space opera/first contact sci-fi story that is hard to set aside once opened. The characters are complex real people who have numerous ways to approach the goal of saving the people of New Pallas, a planet so overpopulated and polluted, there is no hope of survival.

Alvera Renata, former bounty hunter, has a vision for the people of New Pallas. She envisions them surviving on a new world in another galaxy, hoping they have learned the lessons from the mistakes made on their old home planet. Filled with hope and high anticipation, Alvera captains a small scout ship through a tunnel in space connecting to Waystations. When her ship, the Ranger, arrives at its destination, she finds herself and her crew in the middle of a conflict that brings the promise of all-out war.

Another problem is that as soon as the Ranger arrives, the Waystations shut down, trapping Alvera in on one end, and the people she wants to save on the other.

Driven by her mantra, "all of us go, or none of us go," it is up to Alvera and her crew to get the Waystations back online. Time and circumstances are against her; she is in a race to save the people of an entire planet from extinction.

In Left Behind, Alvera is a far different character than she was in the prequel book. Her purpose is more noble, and her compassion is ramped up, but she still has the same resolve and single sightedness for achieving a goal.

There are also some new characters involved, each playing a part to either help bring the humans from New Pallas, or to stop an already complicated situation from exploding.

All the characters are interesting in their views and beliefs and are what really drives the story forward.

Another aspect I found appealing was how, once the Ranger arrived at the far end of the tunnel, the crew all went their separate ways to solve unique problems they encountered, and how clever they were at solving them.

Beyond just being a good solid and entertaining story, my takeaway from Left Behind is how the principal character has grown from someone who worried about her own survival to her concern for the survival of everyone on New Pallas. We don't get a lot of details on how this happened, but to help understand, I would recommend reading the prequel to understand Alvera's motivations.

Among the author's strengths demonstrated in Left Behind is world building. Every place she describes comes alive, as do her characters. She is adept at creating people, especially aliens, that have real feelings and values to give one something to think about.

I recommend this book as one that will interest those who enjoy strong female characters set in situations with intensity and a sense of urgency.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

N.C. Scrimgeour is a science fiction and fantasy author whose books focus on character-driven stories in vibrant worlds, from folklore fantasy to space opera.

After completing her Masters in English Literature, she went on to work in journalism, marketing, and communications while pursuing her passion in writing.

When she's not working on her books, she enjoys playing story-driven RPG's, watching and reading all things science fiction and fantasy, and getting outdoors with the dog for a good walk.

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Minority Of One: Companion Chronicles Volume 2 By Joshua Todd James - A Tremendous Continuation To The Companion Chronicles

Minority of One: Companion Chronicles Volume 2 By Joshua Todd James

Dear reader, there may be some minor spoilers here from Volume 1 of the Companion Chronicles series, Some Animals, in this review. I would recommend you get the first book and read it before reading on. You've been warned...

The continuation of the Companion Chronicles is every bit as good as the first installment, if not even better. It is a sci-fi story illustrating how destructive and dehumanizing people can be when prejudice and bigotry gets stirred up. Once again, author Joshua Todd James has hit it out of the park in this second segment featuring Jacob, the ill-fated artificially intelligent Companion falsely accused of committing two murders.

Minority of One is well written and moves at a scorching pace, there's never a dull moment and James' visuals are absolutely stunning. His characters are both compelling and appropriately repulsive and explode off the page as though they were real people. His visuals extend the reading experience in how vividly they paint a backdrop to stimulate all on one's senses.

The opening of Minority recounts the events of the previous book in the series. Artificially Intelligent Jacob looks and behaves as a human. When he is found holding his dead Primary, Sylvia, he is accused of her murder. After being taken into custody, a police investigator is also killed during his interrogation and Jacob escapes with the purpose of bringing Sylvia's killer, Mason Tolliver, to justice. He is not only on the run from the police, but the company that manufactured him wants to capture him. With the help of some unlikely friends, his manufacturer's tag is removed, making him a renegade. 

The story picks up with Jacob arriving in South Bend, Indiana, where there is a palpable sense of opposition to Companions. There are signs every forbidding the presence of them and many incidents of violence against them. Unlike where Jacob was from, Companions may not move about without being accompanied by their Primaries. Having his tag removed allows him to look for Tolliver's trail while appearing human.

As he searches for clues, he meets people who are vehemently against the existence of Companions and a few who offer shelter to the unfortunate. All the while, Jacob gathers information about Tolliver while, at the same time, he helps others; even to those who hate him for what he is.

Jacob's plight is difficult, but he is determined to use his knowledge and cleverness to track down Sylvia's killer and bring him to justice.

How does one describe Jacob, the principal character? The prologue of Minority opens with the following lines (used here with the author's permission)...

"I was not born as you were. I was not dragged from the womb, kicking and screaming, held and fed until I calmed. I did not arrive into this world as a baby. I am made of living tissue, as you are. I breathe, hunger, thirst, and do everything you do, I bleed like you, though my blood is green rather than red as yours is. I am a synthetic person, manufactured in a factory, but a living being with the same desires, needs, and weaknesses that you have."

That's not all there is to Jacob though. He can learn just by observing, and he can emulate behaviors he sees perfectly. One of his greatest strengths, though, is his capacity to feel compassion for those around him, even those who hate him for what he is. One such character is Candy, a prostitute, and her young daughter Bethany.

Candy wants more for herself and her child than the life she feels forced into. She has no love whatsoever for Jacob's kind, and he knows it. But despite that, Jacob sees an opportunity to lift Candy up so she can provide a more suitable life for her daughter. To say any more about what Jacob did to help would be the major story reveal and you are just going to have to read the book to understand the lengths Jacob will go to help others.

Jacob is not only an amazing character in his physical abilities, but he is also an example of what is best in humanity.

It is Jacob's compassion and how he cares about others, forming my favorite plot point.

One of the major themes in Minority is one being's search for justice against overwhelming odds; that's the obvious one. However, the main takeaway for me is how Jacob maintains his humanity no matter what obstacle come his way. It doesn't matter what he faces, whether it is extreme prejudice, or even danger threatening to end his life, he maintains his humanity. There have been many stories where a non-human character shows unexpected humanity, but, as far as I am concerned, Jacob is the best and purist example of someone who, no matter the circumstances, walks the walk and talks the talk of someone who will adhere to their principles without fail.

Minority is a slight departure from the first book in the series in that we don't learn what is happening with those pursuing him. All the while, I wondered what was going on with those who were looking to capture him and had to keep reminding myself this story is about events being chronicled by Jacob himself, so he wouldn't know what is happening beyond his personal experience.

I give my highest recommendation for Minority of One as well as the first book in the series, Some Animals.

Author Joshua Todd James is a brilliant writer and storyteller and I think his books will not only entertain, but they will also teach without being preachy. The Companion Chronicles appears at a time when much healing is needed after a tumultuous period in our country. May we all heed the message.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Joshua Tood James is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright based in New York City. He wrote the feature film Pound of Flesh, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, among others. He is a member of WGAE, repped by Snopek Management and Gersh.

Books include the Companion Chronicles, which detail the adventures of synthetic person Jacob Kind in the books Some Animals, Minority of One, Freedom Run (to be released November 14, 2021), Man in a Box, Renegade, and Domo-Arigato, Mr. Robato.

You may join Jacob's chase for justice here: Joshua Todd James.

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The Melting Man By Stephen Wise - Just In Time For Halloween, This One Will Give You The Heebie Jeebies

The Melting Man by Stephen Wise

The Melting Man is a short horror suspense story from screenwriter and filmmaker Stephen Wise, and it is brilliant. Just in time for Halloween, this story will give you the heebie jeebies. It is written in a noir style appropriate for a great Twilight Zone episode. It is a fun story that will take less than an hour to read and there is never a dull moment.

Retired Detective Peale lies waiting for death and thinking about his life. He writes about a memory from his days as a young detective, a memory so disturbing, he's told no one about the events that have haunted him over his entire adult life.

Hoping to find peace with himself, Peale writes about a couple he's had dealings with during his early days. The Harlins are a tumultuous couple who always seem to be down on their luck. Their lives together are filled with constant fights that often become physical. When Peale volunteers to check in on them, he expects to find them both dead in their ramshackle home. He finds the male, Todd, still alive, tells his story that amounts to a confession so macabre, it terrifies Peal to his core.

Peale doesn't know if his own confession will be read but hopes for some small amount of comfort before he succumbs to his own disease.

Speaking for myself, the best part of Melting Man is how Wise describes the settings in the story. As I read, I could see the shadowy black and white pictures clearly in my mind. That particular aspect greatly enhanced my enjoyment of a bizarre tale within a tale.

The theme that stood out to me the most is how, even in the most dysfunctional relationship between two people, there can still be love and caring. You'll just have to read the story to see this, but for me, this element of Melting Man was like a flower growing in the middle of a busy sidewalk; it shouldn't be there, but nonetheless, it inspires a small token of hope. Brilliant!

Melting Man is an excellent story. It is compelling, well written, and well edited.

When I finished reading, I had an idea to make it an addition to a Halloween celebration. If one is planning a party, turn down the lights, light up a few candles, and have someone read this story to the guests. The spooky nature of the story will add to the atmosphere and entertain everyone in attendance.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Stephen Wise is a multiple award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker with a Bachelor's degree in film production from the University of Central Florida. His films have been screened in over a dozen countries. He is the author of the collection of short stories Portals of the Mind and a co-writer on Batman: DarKnight, which IFC lists as one of the seven best unproduced Batman screenplays. He is a Michigan native and currently resides in Northwest Florida.

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Distant Kindoms: The Drodenar Project, Folly Of The Gods By Ian Richard Gill - A Sci-Fi Adventure Tale Of Huge Proportions

Distant Kingdoms: The Drodenar Project, Folly of the Gods by Ian Richard Gill. Illustrations by Jason Gill & Ian Richard Gill.

I found this story quite by accident when I posted a review for another book in a Facebook Group I am part of. It surprised when the author reached out to me, asking if I would review his book. I checked to see what it was about and found it an intriguing concept.

Folly of the Gods is a science fiction adventure story. For me, much of it also felt like a fantasy story without magic. It is also an amazing work of world-building in great detail. One can appreciate the amount of work and imagination that went into creating this story with the promise of two more volumes to come. I'm not sure what direction the next two books in the series will take, and Folly reads well as a standalone story.

There are illustrations interspersed throughout the story to help the reader visualize creatures mentioned in the text. I appreciated the well-drawn artwork helping to enhance the story.

This was an incredible effort for a first-time author. It is well written, well edited, and reads like a story from a seasoned professional.

The book opens with a preface tracing the development of artificial intelligence beginning in 1943 with the ENIAC computer (the spark of AI) and moving through humankind's spread in the galaxy. Along the way, are some tremendous advances in the sciences that lead to extending human life almost indefinitely. Thanks to the development of Subatomic Fabrication, anything could be reproduced and there was no want. All along the way, there is human conflict until AI steps in and solves the problem in a unique and humane way.

In the first chapters of the book, we are introduced to a genetically engineered species called the Androgenari. These beings are the dominant sentient species on the planet Drodenar. The Androgenari, or Andros for short, carry both male and female parts and can choose to be father or mother to their offspring. The humans invented the species for study, but after they were created, a war broke out and the Drodenar project had to be abandoned for some time. Meanwhile, the Andros set up a society complete with conflicts and differences in philosophies, causing friction between groups. One of the things causing conflict between the Andros was their religion. They worship their creators, the human scientists, as gods.

The planet itself was intended to be a place with a stable environment to provide the Andros with a place to thrive. Unfortunately, owing to the apparent passing of a rogue planet, the axis of Drodenar was increased, and the orbit changed enough to plunge the planet into a never-ending winter with brief periods of thaw.

When the last human conflict was done, they return to an orbital space station known as Dev Lok to continue to observe their creation. The humans are the very scientists that created the Andros.

There is a plethora of characters to follow in Folly, both among the humans on the station and among the Andros on the planet. However, there is very little between the two parties in this book. Since Folly strikes me as an exposition to the planned trilogy, I imagine there will be more interaction as the story moves forward.

Occasionally, I found myself a little confused about who was who among the Andros because of the sheer numbers of characters on the planet. But they are all dynamically written and many are heroic in their purpose and deeds.

As far as the humans are concerned, there isn't too much on them except they all seem quite taken with themselves. Except for one human, they appear to be more interested in sorting out their own lives and mostly ignore the inhabitants on Drodenar. It will be interesting to see how the humans develop as the rest of the story unfolds in future volumes.

There are also numerous themes one could extrapolate from reading Folly, but for me, the major lesson was how, when left unchecked, humans seem to ruin just about everything they involve themselves in. Drodenar was a perfectly peaceful place before the scientists came along and created the Androgenari. As time passed, the Andros developed human characteristics that brought about conflict where there should have been none. This is a recurring theme throughout human history, and it seems, at least according to the author, it is one that will continue far into the future.

Folly of the Gods is epic in its scope. I would dare to say that the story, and the writing, make me think of Asimov's Foundation stories. There is a lot of detail to keep track of and one must be prepared to devote one's full attention to this complex story. I would recommend this for those who enjoy a tale to become immersed in. 

One thing I wondered is if the author didn't intentionally give nods to other Sci-Fi franchises. I read a few things that caused me to think of Star Trek and Dune. If the author did intentionally do that, my hat’s off to him for doing it subtly, making me smile as I read.

This book is well worth the investment and the time to read, but don't rush through it. There's a lot to think about in Folly of the Gods.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ian Richard Gill was born in 1957 in Winnipeg, Canada with a hole in his heart. I was a "blue baby." I would turn blue and faint from a lack of oxygenated blood.

Thanks to what was cutting-edge medicine at the time, I survived, but with a childhood filled with hospitals and poor health. At age seven, I had the second of two open-heart surgeries, and soon afterward visited Barbados on a family trip.

I fell in love with the island, and later lived there a year, and married my wife, Margaret.

These events shaped my writing to this day.

Find the author's website by clicking HERE.

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